Resale Unit - Procedure To Get Quotations?

[bleucheeze 1]

Hi bros and sis, need some help here. I bought a resale unit and feeling kinda lost pertaining to the usual practice of getting reno quote.

Owners of resale units out there, how do you get reno quotations, based on floor plan only or by asking contractors to take measurements at the unit?

If you arranged with seller to allow few contractors to go take measurements, do you arrange within a say a few hours in a single day, then stagger the timing? Cos my colleague told me the industry is very competitive, it's not advisable to let them see each other, some who are not interested may anyhow quote.

Usually how long will each contractor take?

Any kind souls can advise on the above? Thanks so much!

[MrsLoo 1]

Congrats in getting your new house.

For me, I'm more lazy and busy so I do not have so much time to go to so many ID or contractors. What I did was reading thru reno talk and view the forumers' T-blog for their reviews and then shortlist those that I think I would like to engage them.

1. Shortlist the ID/Contractors that you feel 'comfortable' by going through the forum.

2. I sent my floor plan to the shortlisted ID/Contractors and giving them apple to apple on what I want.

3. Once I think the basic quote is ok to me, I will meet up with the ID/Contractors to discuss in details. Try to shortlist at least 3, no point going thru with many, they will only exhaust you.

4. When I got my keys, I will invite the ID/Contractors to go on-site to finalize their quotation. Ideally, to spread them out because it is not nice to have all ID/Contractors going to site together. If seller allows, maybe within a week, invite at 2 - 3 ID/Contractors to site.

For the above suggestions are from my personal point of views because I did asked for at least 8 quotation but all about the same, had called 2 ID/Contractors, they don't give me any quotations but request to view my house first. But end up, they don't seems interested in doing my house after they know that I'm using a few sub-contractors for my kitchen top and flooring, thus I decided to get a contractor to carry out the renovation based on my requirement.

[bleucheeze 1]

4. When I got my keys, I will invite the ID/Contractors to go on-site to finalize their quotation. Ideally, to spread them out because it is not nice to have all ID/Contractors going to site together. If seller allows, maybe within a week, invite at 2 - 3 ID/Contractors to site.

MrsLoo, thanks for your advice! The tricky thing is, my floor plan doesn't come with any measurements n I'm not sure if it is drawn to scale.

For point 4 above, do you mean you invite contractors to go on-site after seller moved out and you got the keys? Or in the case before seller moves out, "If seller allows, maybe within a week, invite at 2 - 3 ID/Contractors to site."? Pai seh, just want to clarify. Thanks

[May_dream1 14]

Since your floorplan do not have measurements, what you can do is look through the tblog and shortlist a few that you are comfortable with, like what MrsLoo mentioned.

Then get a contractor/ID to go with you to the place. Ask him to measure everything for you then quote. Using the measurement done by him, get apple to apple comparison from a few contractor/id more. Finally shortlist based on what you like, ie designs, pricing, "chemistry" etc.

[MrsLoo 1]

MrsLoo, thanks for your advice! The tricky thing is, my floor plan doesn't come with any measurements n I'm not sure if it is drawn to scale.

For point 4 above, do you mean you invite contractors to go on-site after seller moved out and you got the keys? Or in the case before seller moves out, "If seller allows, maybe within a week, invite at 2 - 3 ID/Contractors to site."? Pai seh, just want to clarify. Thanks

My first flat, I arranged the contractors to the flat with seller still living there. The seller allowed me to bring contractors to view the house for quotation. My second flat, due to busy schedule, I only arrange for viewing after completion (got the keys). If you are no hurry to move in, then I suggest that you should take your time, no point rushing through. Anyway, quotation can never be finalize till the day the contractors hand the keys to you. Until now, I'm still revising the quotation along the way.

[dragonnite 2]

one quick way to get a floor plan with measurements is to buy the plan from HDB online. pay with a credit card, costs only $5 and you get a PDF file in your mailbox almost instantly. even if the unit had been heavily modified in the past, most of the dimensions should be quite accurate still.

some contractors/ID will still insist on going down onsite, even with an accurate floorplan, as in my case, cos it's probably to both parties' benefit to give/get an accurate quote. that's the point when you bring only your shortlisted candidates onsite, takes them at most 1 hour to do everything.

if u want to be as accurate as possible, go prepared with a list of the items you want or don't want so that u can ensure all parties get the same list.

[May_dream1 14]

one quick way to get a floor plan with measurements is to buy the plan from HDB online. pay with a credit card, costs only $5 and you get a PDF file in your mailbox almost instantly. even if the unit had been heavily modified in the past, most of the dimensions should be quite accurate still.

some contractors/ID will still insist on going down onsite, even with an accurate floorplan, as in my case, cos it's probably to both parties' benefit to give/get an accurate quote. that's the point when you bring only your shortlisted candidates onsite, takes them at most 1 hour to do everything.

if u want to be as accurate as possible, go prepared with a list of the items you want or don't want so that u can ensure all parties get the same list.

i think the bleucheeze is not having a HDB flat so there is no way he/she can buy the floor plan from HDB.

[bleucheeze 1]

i think the bleucheeze is not having a HDB flat so there is no way he/she can buy the floor plan from HDB.

Thanks May_dream1 for helping me to clarify. Yah, mine is condo... can buy from bca but unless i can prove i'm owner, so that's out for now. anyway, buy liao also not sure if got measurements.

I already shortlisted a few con/ID based on tblogs here... Very tiring to go through so many people, I guess

My key concern now is whether to get quotation based on only floor plan with measurements, or arrange on-site viewing, which might be of a hassle to owners who are staying there.

Anyway, after I decide to use a particular contractor, do we sign the contract immediately? Need to pay the upfront amount immediately?

[bleucheeze 1]

My first flat, I arranged the contractors to the flat with seller still living there. The seller allowed me to bring contractors to view the house for quotation. My second flat, due to busy schedule, I only arrange for viewing after completion (got the keys). If you are no hurry to move in, then I suggest that you should take your time, no point rushing through. Anyway, quotation can never be finalize till the day the contractors hand the keys to you. Until now, I'm still revising the quotation along the way.

How much % increase in total reno cost should we budget for?

[May_dream1 14]

Thanks May_dream1 for helping me to clarify. Yah, mine is condo... can buy from bca but unless i can prove i'm owner, so that's out for now. anyway, buy liao also not sure if got measurements.

I already shortlisted a few con/ID based on tblogs here... Very tiring to go through so many people, I guess

My key concern now is whether to get quotation based on only floor plan with measurements, or arrange on-site viewing, which might be of a hassle to owners who are staying there.

Anyway, after I decide to use a particular contractor, do we sign the contract immediately? Need to pay the upfront amount immediately?

i looked at floor plan, i know its not hdb flat.

like i said, just choose 1 then use that one to do measurement for you. that way, you only need to bring 1 contractor to do on site measurement. after that, the same measurement can be used for all other contractors.

if you already decided, then you can sign the contract. that is provided you already make the changes you want, meet and discussed a few times... i would say at least meet all for 1 time, meet selected 3/4 for 2nd time then finally the one you choose for last time. then more less confirmed, 4th time to meet and sign and pay 10% cheque as deposit (usually its 10% lah).

if you are like me, quite firm in what you want and will not keep adding, then i think 2-3% variation might happen cos you never know the exact condition till you hack everything (if you hack). but you cannot decide and quite easily persuaded, then you might want to keep at least 15% for variation. This does not incl electrical wiring!

[bleucheeze 1]

i looked at floor plan, i know its not hdb flat.

like i said, just choose 1 then use that one to do measurement for you. that way, you only need to bring 1 contractor to do on site measurement. after that, the same measurement can be used for all other contractors.

if you already decided, then you can sign the contract. that is provided you already make the changes you want, meet and discussed a few times... i would say at least meet all for 1 time, meet selected 3/4 for 2nd time then finally the one you choose for last time. then more less confirmed, 4th time to meet and sign and pay 10% cheque as deposit (usually its 10% lah).

if you are like me, quite firm in what you want and will not keep adding, then i think 2-3% variation might happen cos you never know the exact condition till you hack everything (if you hack). but you cannot decide and quite easily persuaded, then you might want to keep at least 15% for variation. This does not incl electrical wiring!

Thanks for your tips, May_dream1 ! Hope I wouldn't have to top up 15%.

[zhiz 4]

Thanks for your tips, May_dream1 ! Hope I wouldn't have to top up 15%.

maybe can read this

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=53839

also my link in signature

will help you in choosing ID and planning your reno.

[bleucheeze 1]

That's very informative for newbies like myself! Thanks, zhiz

Is there anything to take note of for condo unit? For eg, what is the usual cost of clearing of debris and haulage? What about renovation permit?

[MrsLoo 1]

How much % increase in total reno cost should we budget for?

This is a tough question. Initially, most quotation I received were around 25K - 30K excluding electrical, lightings and aircon. So, I'm telling myself, ok maximum I should not exceed 40K renovation + 10K furnishing, so meaning max.50K. But, I seriously over shoot my budget and the cost went all the way up to 60K(as of now, including my new furnishing). I seriously think I'm crazy and when my friend told me he spent nearly 56K for a 3room flat, I was like sure or not, you kana chopped lah, but now I'm spending more than him.

This is not my first house, so I told myself whatever I used for my previous house, confirmed + proven no good, thus this time round, with more experience, we decided to spend more on quality. Anyway, to cut the whole thing short, wet works, electrical, aircon all these cannot save, things that can save a little are appliances and furnishing.

[MrsLoo 1]

That's very informative for newbies like myself! Thanks, zhiz

Is there anything to take note of for condo unit? For eg, what is the usual cost of clearing of debris and haulage? What about renovation permit?

Pte property, no need to go through any HDB permit except informing your management of what you are doing and when you are doing. At least, you don't need to bother if the ID/contractors is HDB registered or not.